The Effects of Being a Cynical Magical Girl: Project Lie
by Quiet Harmony-chan
Summary: Let's pretend that this is a story about a normal girl falling into Wonderland and finding love. That the reality of her being a gambler and drunk doesn't exist.
1. Chapter 1

"Night Otto, I'm heading out!" I slam down the last wooden chair on the matching wooden table. A piece of gum could be seen on the underside of the dark colored chair, the crusty thing was littered with tiny holes giving me goosebumps. Turning away I nearly smacked into the next table all stacked with even more chairs encrusted with the dried gum.

Side stepping them I managed to get from in-between the two rectangular tables and began to make my way to the glass door on the far side of the room. Gum on chairs. I'd bet my entire pay check that the jerks in this place did it on purpose.

"You gettin' out of here already?"Otto had peeked his head out of a room next to a stone fireplace, his pale face covered in flour and other food stuffs. "You want me to tell the boy to walk you home? Everyone is after foreigners like you."

I shook my head. "Nah, I got it. Walter's probably busy talking to that cute little number with the red hair."

He sighed and leaned against the sturdy doorframe."Too bad that number ain't you."

My hand curled around some of my, artificial, dark red hair."You'll have to find another way for me to join your family Otto."

"The name Schmidt would look good on your's! Allison Schmidt, a nice ring to it."

"I don't mid O'Connell." I said before gesturing to the door. "I got to get going, it'll be the end of the time change before we stop gabbing."

"Fine fine." The man walked over to the door, the light wood floor creaking thanks to Otto's immense weight. At 6'4 and 280 pounds that was all muscle there was almost nothing that wouldn't creak when he sat or walk. I was sure Wonderland itself cursed like a sailor whenever he had to get to point A and B.

He opened up the door, a brass bell hung at the side and made a light chirping jingle when it opened. Cold air rushed in our faces and made me burrow down into my thin cotton jacket, the fuzzy fibers tickling my nose. "It got cold fast!"

"I think it's just you," He said as he flexed his massive arms. "You be getting home safe now."

"Sure thing."

I headed down the road waving a hand, but not turning around. I saw someone do that in a movie once and thought he was awesome. Most people here thought I was just being rude and Otto was no exception. "Turn around you stupid girl!"

I laughed and did as I was told before continuing on my way. It really was cold this time change, the wind decided to blow through and shake around the trees and anything flimsy that cheap people decided to leave out. Going down a hill I left the merchant's district and managed to get to a small neighborhood. Some of the lights were blazing in the cookie-cutter houses reminding me of a cheesy Christmas card while others had all the lights out and the shutters over the windows as if keeping out the boogie man.

After a few minutes I managed to get to my place. It was small with a sad excuse for a front yard. I had a couple bushes in front of the window but they were already drooping and one had died. The house itself was that panel stuff that was an off brown color that was grey on a sunny day. Walking up the rickety porch I kept my hands off the white railing aware that the rough wood could leave splinters. Digging a hand in my pocket I fished out my keys and went through the many key chains and charms before finding the only key on there. Putting the key in the lock I managed to open the door, the cool wood metal making a shudder go down my spine.

Shutting the door behind me I hurried through the bare living room to get to my closet. No it's a room, that's what the landlord told me, but the thing was smaller than my grandmother's coffin. The four walls were painted a light shade of brown and had some white drips here and there thanks to the idiot painters. Aside from that there's nothing really exciting about my space. I had no furniture what so ever, just a few snug blankets in the corner Otto's wife gave me and a large green body pillow that I kinda wanted to marry. It was better than a boyfriend I swear.

After flicking on the dingy light switch I began unzipping my jacket. I put it on a wooden peg that was drilled to the bathroom door courtesy of Otto's eldest son Walter. It was next to a thin blue towel and another empty peg that I quickly filled with my Steeler's baseball cap. Shaking my red hair loose I brought the tip of my right shoe to the back of the other and tried to force it off, regardless the fact that I didn't untie the laces. With a muffled puffing noise the shoe came off and I promptly kicked the worn thing against the walls, probably scaring thee mice in the walls. You could hear the damn things all the time, rude bastards.

Kicking off the other shoe I tripped out of my other clothes I tossed them into a flimsy white basket, the cheap thing swaying thanks to the clothes and landing back promptly with a light tap. Grabbing the slip for my only dress I put it over my head before diving under my thick red blanket and wriggled above my thinner grey one before bringing my legs up to my chest in a sad attempt to stay warm. I had absolutely no heat in my house, I should probably by a heater or something now that Jack Frost started to invade.

Minutes ticked by and slowly you could hear the mice coming to life. The uninvited guests chattering to each other and pissing me off. Grabbing my shoe I threw it at the wall silence ensuing for all of a minute before they began scurrying again. Growling I slammed half of my body pillow over my head and tried to block out the noise. Scratch,tic, scratch, squeak! The damn noises wouldn't get out of my head long enough to sleep.

Rolling out of my blankets I gave up on the task and flicked the light switch back on and hurried back into my clothes. The rush helped warm, not enough of course, but all that left when I was out the door. Huffing I brought a hand to my knee and stretched the opposite leg out and did a lunge, my legs screamed at the treatment but I ignored it long enough to do one with the opposite leg. Getting out of the position I hopped up and down before going down the porch and going down the street at a full run.

My lungs ached from the cold air invading them and made my heart beat faster. It was probably because I was fat as well. Not full blown fat, I guess there's a term for it...? Oh! Celebrity fat I think. Basically I had stuffed my face with one too many Twinkies. With that said you can imagine I didn't run that long and had to walk after ten minutes.

**...**

Huffing the rest of the way to my destination I was glad to see the colorful neon lights and the proud 'Open' sign on the little establishment. The place was made of old-fashioned brick and had neon lights of different alcohol logos and curvy sluts. Opening up the door I took in a deep breath of the second-hand smoke, sweat, and general smells that gambling establishments like this tended to have. But I wasn't going to complain, it was warmer than my house and played some pretty cool tunes over the speakers.

Pushing my way through the colorful crowd I made my way to one of the slot machines. They were sturdy things that were painted a bright red with black flames decorating it. Sitting down on the hard metal stool I perched my feet on the first foot bar before digging out the change from my paycheck that I had cashed out earlier this afternoon. The sign screwed to the top of the machine lit up and the six different rolls inside of it began to spin showing off the iconic symbols that would either screw me or help me. Twisting an anchor earring in my left ear I watched as the rolls began to slow down one by one. The first one showing off a cherry, so did the second, however the third decided to be a troll and became a spade. Slamming my fist on the machine I got up, not even bothering to see what the rest of my result was.

"Hate those damn things!"

"Then play a game with me." A well dressed man in a suit and bald as an Easter egg sat on a stool. He had a cigar in-between his lips and a pair of dice in his hands. "There's plenty of room."

"Um..." I glance over to the other people around the round table. There was a blonde woman with bloody red lips and even redder nails, a short man wearing a bandanna around his mouth, and a pair of androgynous twins both smoking something suspicious. "Sure!"

The man pulled up a stool and I sat in-between himself and that Madonna wanna-be. "The rules are simple, get seven."

"Sounds good." I eyed the black and blue dotted dice. They looked alright to me, but then again I was never the best at dice games. My ex always trolled me at the damn things. Loaded dice are a bitch. Putting down a hundred bucks I pushed them in the pile while the man rolled them in systematic counter-clockwise circles. Giving them a quick throw in the air he then rolled them, the small cubes making clack sounds as they hit the wood table and span a few times before they showed a five and one.

Hm, not loaded after all.

"Damn." He said. "Thought I had it that time."

The twins laughed in sync as they grabbed his cash pocketing the stuff without a worry. "Our night!"

The man handed the dice to me. "Your go."

I took the dice and twirled my anchor earring. I didn't have any strategy when it came to dice, cards were more my game. Closing my palm around the warm dice I rolled them from side to side feeling the slight indentions thanks to the blue dots. After a bit I shut my eyes and cast them more than ready to push my money and go.

"Well look at that."

I opened an eye and blinked. Seven. Well a two and five but it's still seven! "Hell yeah!" I grabbed up the loose money and pocketed it without even bothering to count.

"That looks good." The woman said. "Why not put all in?"

I raised an eyebrow. "Why? I just won big, I don't have to count to figure that out."

"True..." She put a well manicured finger on her cheek."But then again you are a foreigner. This world is supposed to be easy on you."

"Says the slot machine."

"You gonna talk or roll, Kida." The short man asked.

"Roll of course."

She bent down her head and blew the dice as if blowing it a kiss. However as she began to sit up properly her lurched forward and hit the table. I jumped up, knocking over the stool as I did, and had to hold my breath. Kida's head was gushing bright red blood, staining the table a bright red and dripped onto carpets blending in with its natural red. The man spun around and his mouth opened, the cigar dropping and going out thanks to falling in the puddle of blood. Looking at the other players at the table they all had the same reaction to what just happened. Deciding not to be a horror movie cliché I spun around to look at the horrifying thing behind us just to see two men...

With eyes.

No one else in this whole world had eyes except for me. And now these two gun toting goons. Putting up both hands I slowly began to get on my knees, but the man who had invited me to the game grabbed my by the hair. Squealing like a girl I jerked straight back up and tried my best to look at the man. "I have a foreigner with me, Hatter! You wouldn't want to risk hurting this precious gem, would you?"

I opened my mouth but the man grabbed me by the cheeks, pushing them in with his freakishly long nails. The man in the top hat narrowed his electric green eyes and lowered his machine gun. "And how did the likes of you manage to get such a luxury."

"Came right up to me she did, but you're only stalling." He shook me causing the contents of my stomach to stir around. "What say you?"

The violet eyed man scoffed and turned his pistol's aim to my head. "I bet that this bitch is just a a new Rule Holder."

"Would you risk that?" The man shook me again and I swallowed a burp.

The top hat man raised his gun. "Of course not."

With a loud bang I tumbled backwards, my shoulder bursting into flames as a bullet pulled through me and into the douche behind me. Screaming I clutched my shoulder, kneeling on the ground as I bled out. "Y-you shot me..."

The man walked over to me the crowd moving away like he had a plague. "I'm terribly sorry about that, but that man was using you for his own advantage."

I grunted not able to say anything through my clenched teeth. The violet eyed man walked over his eyes never leaving mine. "What should we do with her?"

"Take her with us of course. We've done a terrible wrong by shooting her and at least taking the bullet out and giving her stitches could begin to make up for what we've done."

Sighing the man bent down and hauled me up onto his shoulder by my stomach. My shoulder flared back up this time trying to dig its way off my body entirely. I bit down on my tongue focusing on that pain instead as the man began to walk. Each step sent a jolt down my spine and no matter how much I tried whimpers would still escape.

My first time seeing people with eyes in twenty time changes and the first thing that happens is that I managed to get shot.

Goody goody gumdrops.

**...**

**A/N: There we go! So a foreigner named Allison! What do you think so far? It's been a long while since I had to write in the first POV, but I hope that her voice is clear enough. And everything about the many holes in this chapter, such as why she has yet to interact with other Roleholders and how she got to Wonderland, will be told in the next chapter. **


	2. Chapter 2

The fan spun in slow counter clock-wise rotations inside the dim room. At the moment it was my only source of entertainment after the faceless was kind enough to take out the bullet and stitch my shoulder up. I yawned and brought myself deeper into the thick silky sheets thrown over me before he left. This place that those guys brought me to wasn't half-bad. This room was pretty large and painted a harsh white, but had dark brown wooden floors to help off set the annoying color. A dark wood fan was propelling above my head and had an antique glass globus fixture to it that gave off a dim light. Aside from the metal bed I was laying in, with the best mattress ever, there was no other bits of furniture. The doctor had taken away a metal squeaky cart that his tools were lying on not even ten minutes ago. But none of that mattered when you felt the temperature...

It was warm!

I guess I'm pretty shallow considering these guys shot me. Was I upset? Sure, but I'm not stupid either. Going back to my place after going to a clinic would have taken a lot of effort and would have me freeze to death. So, for now, I was going to lay around here until they either kicked me out or Otto came looking for me.

A light tap at my door dropped me out of my thoughts before the door opened to reveal the guy with violet eyes and rabbit ears. Oh, I forgot to mention that didn't I? Well sue me! It's been awhile since I saw eyes that weren't mine. "Did the doctor patch you up?"

"Yeah, did a decent job too."

His eyes widened considerably. "You've been shot before?! But you're a foreigner!"

"No, no, no." I waved my hand. "I meant I've gotten stitches before. I'm not stupid enough to get shot..." My eyebrows furrowed. "That's until today."

I blinked when I saw the long ears go down on either side of his head. "I'm sorry about that, Blood was only trying to help you get out of that situation."

"By shooting me?"

He nodded. "That was Greg Allen a powerful Casino owner. He owed Blood a ton of money and would have used you to try to get out of those debts."

"Because I'm the foreigner." I said with a sigh. I don't understand everyone's obsession with me being from out of town. I think they would be more concerned that I have no clue _how _I got here. One minute I was walking home drunk as hell and the next I'm waking up in a fountain close to Otto's bar.

"Pretty much."

We sat in awkward silence for a few moments before the rabbit guy spoke again. "You feeling better?"

"A little."

"Good," He gestured outside the door. "Blood wanted you to join his tea party."

I snorted and put a hand to my mouth in an attempt to swallow the rest of my laughter, making my nose burn. The rabbit guy tilted his head to the side, violet eyes glittering with confusion. "Did I say something funny?"

"N-no." I pushed myself up with my good arm and shoulder, wincing when I felt the sting thanks to my wound. "Lead the way."

**...**

"So you've never met a Roleholder before?"

I blew on my tea cup, the heat sinking into my hand and making me drowsy. "Nope, you guys are my first."

I said this without looking at my host, my eyes gobbling up all the goodies on the table. I always said rich people had it good! There were colorful cakes on white trays that had delicate blue scrolling on the sides that looked almost like singing birds perched in a maple tree. The small cups had the same scrawling as did the slim and elegant tea pot that sat close to Blood, the guy who shot me. "Well then, I guess the early bird get's the worm."

"I guess." I took a sip of the tea and wrinkled my nose, where's the sugar?

"Then where do you stay?" Elliot said. "Don't tell me you live in a trash can."

Oh, there they are. I grabbed the round bowl and plunked one of the tiny cubes into the tea. "Kinda."

"Huh?!"

"Just kidding!" I look up at Elliot, the rabbit guy. "I actually live in a small house a few blocks from the bar I work at. It's not the best in the world but it's a roof."

"Would you rather live in a better place than your current one?" Blood said.

I continued plunking in the sugar cubes. I'd never really thought of trying to get to a better place. I mean I didn't have the funds, my gambling aside, and I didn't know how long I'd remain in this drunken hallucination. "Nah, I'm fine where I am."

The suddenly shifted from a happy morning to a lovely evening with a few clouds in the sky lazily dancing around. Picking up my tea mug I dumped all the contents in my mouth, forcibly swallowing the too sweet mixture before standing up. "Well I gotta get going."

"To work?"

"Pretty much."

Elliot stood up as well. "Alone? Aren't you worried someone could mug you? It's dangerous to go out right now."

"It's not dark yet, besides I've gotten more disturbing things happen at the bar than anywhere else."

I gave a small salute and walked over to the huge wrought iron gate and off the property. My stomach swirling around as if I just eaten an entire meal. Man that tea was too sweet, maybe I should have just drank it bitter...

**...**

Alice twisted her hands nervously in her apron, painfully aware of Nightmare's eye on her. She had heard the news today and was now jittery, constantly trying to make herself useful but would eventually just stare out the window and over the mass expanse of the forest. She couldn't see into it and barely see past it, yet if she squinted sometimes she thought she caught a glimpse of a person who looked lost and alone...

"I'm sure the new foreigner is fine." Nightmare said as he leaned his elbows on his desk. He probably should be getting back to the pile of paperwork on his desk that threatened to fall over. "You entered Wonderland and figured everything out quickly enough."

"Maybe..." She sighed and stood up, going over to a couch centered in front of a stone fireplace that was happily popping away. "But I know this place can be dangerous, I didn't in the beginning. What if the foreigner runs into a gun fight, or picks up a clock, or-"

"There's always the possibility," He said. "but you just have to believe that the foreigner will be okay."

Alice nodded and gave a small smile, trying her best to find a bright side to this. Nightmare could still feel the foreigner's presence in Wonderland so that mean's they weren't dead. But they also weren't sleeping meaning that he wouldn't be able to communicate with them. She huffed and once again her hands intertwined themselves with her crisp white apron.

She jumped when she felt a heavy calloused hand on her shoulder. "Is something bothering you, Alice?"

The girl looked up to see a handsome man with yellow eyes and a lizard tattoo peeking on his neck. "N-no. I'm fine, Gray."

"Liar." Nightmare coughed, before grabbing a paper from the stack when Gray looked at him.

"Are you sure?" He sat down next to her, the couch creaking thanks to the extra weight. "You don't seem well. You've been staring out the windows for hours now and you haven't eaten."

She sighed and shook her head. "It's just that I'm worried about the new foreigner...No one knows where they could be! If I could just go look-"

Gray grabbed her waist and held her close, a rare form of public affection. "The foreigner will be fine, right now I'm only worried about you."

"You just don't want me to leave."

"Of course, is it wrong to care about the woman I love?"

"I suppose..." But her blue-eyed gaze once again went out the window to the great unknown. She had a terrible feeling in her gut and the setting sun wasn't helping her mood one bit. She knew there was terrifying things in Wonderland, things that a foreigner could never hope to understand. She could only hope that someone would be kind enough not to exploit her on the spot and that she would be able to keep away from the bloodshed that this place seemed to crave.

**...**

**A/N: And finished! So Allison hasn't met a single Roleholder until now...Wonder why. And yes if you didn't figure it out Alice is with Gray. I usually read stories where she get's with Julius or Blood but never Gray. So yeah, here's the chapter I hoped you all enjoyed it!**


End file.
